Only Once, For You
by Entrovert
Summary: Selphie/Irvine When Selphie finally accepts the offer for a date with Irvine, her friends realize the perky girl may have to deal with a few personal problems that arrise first.
1. Default Chapter

Only Once, For You  
By Geminigirlz #1  


  


  


  


  


  
A small girl in a simple yellow dress was laughing and cracking jokes at the front of the classroom.

"Quisty! I didn't know words like that could come out of your mouth!"

They both giggled softly, watching the other students take a seat. Selphie sighed.

"I guess I'd better go before someone notices that I'm not supposed to be in here. But don't forget I have to prep you up for that hot date tonight! I swear, you should really go out more often."

Quistis turned bright red.

"Oh please Selphie, like you go out a lot. Now scoot before I have to kick you out!" She winked and waved Selphie along.

Even though her quirky demeanor said otherwise, Selphie pranced down the hall thinking about what Quistis had said. Irvine Kinneas was _always_ trying to get Selphie to go on a date with him... but she wasn't really sure. The guy seemed kind of untrustworthy, no matter what their child hoods implied.

_Life sure is a lot more complicated once you sit down and think about it... although I AM standing up... I wonder who Quistis's mystery date is, she's so secretive it's frustrating. Rinoa is the complete opposite, except about a few things even _I _don't want to think about... Great, it always turns out like this, I-_

"Whoa!!!" Selphie's foot slid right on a freshly waxed garden floor and the next thing she knew she about to slip and possibly crack her head open.

_My last thoughts... um-_

But that never happened, because the next thing the girl knew she fell right into some quite steady and warm. And that something came a very familiar chuckle from behind her. Selphie almost shivered when she felt the rumble of his chest on her back.

"Better be more careful next time, huh Sephie?"

Selphie blushed, hopped back on her feet and turned around slowly. Sure enough, it was Irvine Kinneas, the face she had been dreading just a very moments earlier, grinning from ear to ear at her. It was almost pathetic, if she ever thought of it that way. Which she never did. Selphie mostly just felt a little flattered.

"Well, you know. It was an accident." She crossed her arms and pretended to pout.

Irvine laughed gallantly and flipped his long ponytail back on his head, scratching it softly as he did.

"Then you're a pretty lucky lady, having a cowboy with new boots here to save you! In _fact _I'm pretty sure what a good thank you present would be for the cowboy." He raised his eyebrows in the usual flirtatious way that had 97% of the girl in the Garden swooning.

And Selphie was actually an exception to that statistic, although she felt bad about it.

"I- I'm not sure... if that's a good idea Irvy... See, I have to help Quistis..."

'Well that's no problem! We can have it another night. Just imagine Sephie. You and me, a candlelight dinner... or maybe just some fish at Balamb. C'mon, sounds good, doesn't it?"

Selphie looked around nervously, but there was no one there. Everyone was in their classes, and a lot of the SeeDs were at a luncheon, which she was apparently very late to right now.

_Another Catch 22 for me... I don't want to make him feel bad, though. And he's not SUCH a bad guy... what am I doing?!_

"I guess it wouldn't be so bad... right?" She said faintly, staring hypnotized into space. 

Irvine broke out into a smile worth a million.

"That's great! And you said that you had something with Quistis tonight, right? So how about tomorrow? You name the place and we'll go!" Irvine tipped his hat to the pretty lady and his heart soared. Finally, after so much time.

"Ahhh.... sure!" Selphie tried to look excited, and she was pretty sure she was doing an okay job. Because it couldn't be a NIGHTMARE....could it?

The blond instructor tried on the overly sexy dress Selphie had picked out for her.

"I could never ever wear this on a date! Selphie! What are you thinking?!"

The culprit grinned mischievously and rubbed her hands together.

"Don't worry! You look great!"

Quistis groaned. The dress was of a golden color and showed a lot more cleavage than Quistis could ever even HOPE for.

"I never see _you_ in these kinds of clothes! What is the big deal with dressing me up?" She joked, and elbowed Selphie softly in the stomach.

The smaller girl grew quieter, however, and shrugged slightly, pretending to look out the window.

"It's no big deal. I just think this dress would look pretty on you, that's all. And anyway, there's no need for me to wear these kinds of clothes. You go on plenty more dates than I do, and it's fun to dress you up." Selphie bit her lip.

Suddenly, it wasn't just two friends trying on clothes for one of them for a date. It was something... different.

"I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you- um.. I was just kidding..." Quistis chuckled nervously. "Um, dress me up all you want. It's nothing... really. I would look like a chicken with real feathers if you never gave me clothes to wear for my dates..."

"It's really fine. I was just a little, distressed. Here, if you don't like that one, we'll change it."

"No no no! I love it. I'll wear it tonight and knock out my date."

They both smiled meekly at each other. A few minutes later Selphie picked up her water bottle and skipped out of the room, saying hi to Rinoa who was just about to visit Quistis. 

But the instructor was standing quite still, looking at the place Selphie had just been a moment earlier. Rinoa stepped in shyly and frowned when she saw Quistis.

"Is something... the matter?" 

"I... I 'm not sure... maybe it's just my nerves for the date..."

Selphie shut the door behind her room quietly and sat on her bed. She opened her diary and flipped through the pages until she found the empty one she was searching for. Selphie took her favorite pen, a fluffy one with big feather on the top and began to write.

_Tomorrow is my big date with Irvine... I'm still pretty nervous about it. The guy is really scaring me sometimes with all the attention he's giving me. Seems like that's not happened for a long time, huh, Selph._

_ Anyway, I was just trying clothes on Quistis for her big date and she freaked on me. I wonder if she suspects anything is up or something. I don't think so. _

_ Oh! And Rinoa told me that next week she was taking Squall and her father out for a night in Deling and that every time she thought about it she felt like she was going to hurl. I told her not to worry as usual, and I'm glad it seemed like that helped. Squall and Rinoa are such a cute little couple! I wonder if I'll ever meet someone like that. Irvine isn't a bad guy, but he seems so... different from the other guys in Garden. It's like he has a reputation to live up to, kinda like me I guess. And kinda like everybody. Quistis must be shy, pretty and stern. Rinoa has to be friendly and a wonderful girlfriend to Squall, when she feels like he isn't being a moron. I suppose I have to be the small perky girl, but I love doing it. _

_ Helping people is so nice. Maybe that' s why I'm a SeeD. I was playing cards with Dr. Kadowski today and lost, though. :(_

Selphie grinned at her entry. She had been writing in journals ever since she was 10, and it helped, somewhat.

There was a knock on her door.

"Selphie? It's Rinoa. I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me, Squall and Zell tonight."

"Dinner? Uh, sure! Hold on let me put this away first. Don't go away, come in!"

Rinoa hesitantly came into the doorway of one of her best friends. Selphie's room was surprisingly not happy-go-lucky. It was very neat and the only things that distinguished her was her desk, which was lavender and a peace calendar on the wall. There was, however, a weird smell.

"Yeah, I'm sorry it smells bad."

Rinoa shook her head adamantly. "No, no! It-it um-"

"Don't worry, I just have to spray something once in a while. It just smells so bad in here. There's really not much you can do about it, though." She shrugged. "One of these days I'm moving to a new dorm."

"That's good." Rinoa smiled as she and Selphie went out the door and the other girl locked it tightly shut behind her. Rinoa, just like Quistis, frowned. She noticed the key hanging from Selphie's wrist.

"Is something wrong?" 

"No... nothing. C'mon. The boys are waiting for us."

Indeed, the boys were waiting impatiently. Zell was crossing his arms and yawning, wondering why he was here. His girlfriend was out of town for a family situation, and there was nothing else to do except hang around Squall. Even so, this was hella boring.

"Zell, will you stop breathing on the table? It's annoying and-" Squall stopped complaining when the two girls came over. They slid into their seats and grinned.

"Hey Squall!" Rinoa pecked him on the cheek and grinned. Squall turned slightly red but regained composure quickly. 

"What do you guys wanna get?" He asked.

Zell punched the table. 

"Hots dogs!"

"I'll have a hamburger, thanks."

They looked at Selphie, who was busy looking at something else. Rinoa turned so she could see and saw Irvine Kinneas standing in line and waving crazily to Selphie, who smiled meekly back.

"Oh! Sorry guys. I'll have two hamburgers and a coke, please."

Zell raised an eyebrow.

"Damn Selphie! You must be hungry!"

She shrugged.

"Well, I haven't had anything all day except a sandwich that Quistis made. And you know about her cooking..."

They all nodded, except Squall, who rolled his eyes and went over to the line to order. Irvine let him cut in front of him.

"See Selphie? Isn't he nice? I'm so glad you're going out with him tomorrow." Rinoa smiled and patted her shoulder.

"Selphie's got a date? Man, I am ALWAYS the last to know about these things."

They all started talking about how Zell never knew left from right unless he was fighting, and how no one had bothered to tell him he had a girlfriend because they all thought he knew, but apparently Zell thought they were still just dating.

"Here you guys go. Eat up now, they were the last hot dogs." Squall sat down and handed everyone their food. They all murmured thanks, and as Rinoa bit into her sandwich she noticed Irvine leaving the cafeteria with some chicken and a coke.

"What happened? Isn't he going to eat with us Squall?" She asked.

Squall was taken aback, and became a little jealous.

"No, why is it important? He said he had work to do."

Rinoa grinned and tapped Selphie on the arm.

"See? I tell ya. Men are always the same. Ask them something about another guy and they're suddenly alert and angry." She winked.

"Well.. I can see that with Squall.. although it DID never happen before you... not that he ever went out on a date before you..."

They both giggled while the men were either rolling their eyes or looking around in confusion before shrugging.

Selphie suddenly picked up her stuff and got up, glancing around at her companions.  


"Guys, thanks for asking me to dinner. Like Irvine I've also got some paperwork to catch up on. You know... (she pretended to glare at Rinoa for coughing suggestively) It's been fun!" She took her drink and pranced out of the cafeteria.

There was utter silence at their table after Selphie left for a few seconds. Zell finally broke it by looking surprised and saying very loudly and immaturely,

"Damn! She ate two hamburgers in like 2 minutes! Must be a world record or something. I wish I could do that, but you know, hamburgers have different textures than hot dogs. It's easier to choke on them and the digestion from the school ones are pretty awful. Hey Rinoa, pass me the ketchup, will ya?"

Rinoa was oblivious to Zell's last sentence and she and Squall exchanged a glance. Hers was a worried one, and he responded with shrug that clearly implied,

'You handle it. I'll screw it up.'

Yet Rinoa didn't get up. She didn't think it was her business for now. When Quistis comes back they would talk about it.

  
Please be kind and drop a review. 

-Gem  
yp_6441@yahoo.com   



	2. Desperate Times

Only Once, For You  
By Geminigirlz #1  
  
I don't own FFVIII  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Rinoa Heartilly had never been one to help people with problems that she didn't have anything to do with. It wasn't like she was selfish, but they had usually just turned her away. But even Rinoa couldn't understand why Selphie was acting so strangely. She and Quistis were sitting in her dorm room and sighing frequently. 

"I don't really feel uncomfortable about this, but seriously, even Zell said something about how Selphie was really distant lately. I don't get it." She put her head into her hands. "I just feel bad that maybe we had something to do with it."

Quistis shrugged.

"I doubt it. I think it's that Irvine fellow. He doesn't seem like some horribly mean person, but after traveling with him for so long, I have my suspicions."

"You're right. He's such a womanizer. But tonight is his date with Selphie, right? You can't exactly hurt somebody by asking them on a date and being super nice to them. And especially in Selphie's case. Usually she would be giggling with us about it."

"Hey! That would almost be worse!"

They laughed meekly together. Rinoa straightened her back and shook her head.

"The other thing is she's so secretive lately. She even has the key to her room hanging around her wrist. I'm not saying we should break into her room or anything! But... I dunno, it's almost like she's insecure. That's just not Selphie." 

"I'm not sure..." Quistis began, "But she was acting pretty mad when I was joking about her not wearing the stuff she wanted me to wear. I mean, this can't ALL be because she has a simple little date with Irvine Kinneas, could it?"

That was definitely growing more likely by the minute.

  


  


In the meanwhile, Selphie was sitting in her room pulling every outfit she had out of her closet. It all seemed so... plain. She finally sighed in frustration and sat down with a small plop on her floor. Was there anything that she could wear without looking like an idiot? 

After a while, Selphie sat up and picked up her clothes from the floor and put them on her bed. The only thing that looked good was a brown miniskirt, but she had no top for it. Rinoa probably had something for it, but... were they the same size?

A knock rang out on from her door.

"Selphie? You in there?"

Selphie bolted up and frowned. It was a strange voice. Well, people were always welcome to talk to her. She opened the door a few inches and gasped.

Irvine was standing there, smiling down at her.

"Hey! I was hoping I would find you here."

"Ahhh... hi."

She fidgeted a little. How humiliating, her room was a complete mess of all her clothes. How would that look? He would obviously know that she was deciding what to wear for their date and it would make her look really desperate.

"So... like, I wanted to ask you something Sephie."

"Alright. Um, you want to talk about this outside? My room's kind of a mess."

"Oh! No problem. Haha, actually I was going to ask if you wanted to take a walk with me."

Selphie's eyes widened.

"Sure... why not. Let's go."

  


  


  


Irvine was still smiling as his and Selphie's hands were clasped together. They were walking around the first floor.

"So Irvy, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing in particular. Just wanted to catch up with you, you know? It almost seems like our paths never cross anymore. I hope you still know that we're good friends, right?" He frowned, and she was taken slightly aback by the fact that he noticed.

"Well-" She started.

"IRVINE!!!" A shrill voice rang out from the other side of the hall. A tall girl in a garden uniform was running over with two of her friends. "Oh my god!!! I haven't seen you in ages! When they told me you had transferred to BALAMB, of all places- well, I just had to come!"

"Ahh..." Irvine was starting to look uncomfortable. "Is it really you... uh..."

"Marie! Remember? Well I guess you might've forgotten, but..." Marie twirled one of her many braids with one finger. 

Selphie was standing in the shadows throughout this sudden outburst. She bit her lip in surprise and withdrew her hand from Irvine's, the sudden rush of cold air on her palm startling her. He glanced down and saw her face.

"Sephie-"

"It's okay, you two catch up. I just remembered that I have to meet Rinoa for lunch, anyway." She sprinted away toward the cafeteria.

Marie looked after her and looked at Irvine.

"I guess she's your girlfriend now, huh? However unwillingly, it looks like."

Irvine glared at her, something he rarely did to girls and rolled his eyes.

"Almost." He ran after Selphie.

Rinoa saw Selphie coming into the cafeteria and waved her over to their table. Selphie skipped over and sat down quickly.  
"What's up?" She asked. "I mean, not that I don't want to have lunch with you, but usually..."  


"Selphie... I wanted to talk to you about something important." Rinoa started uncertainly.

"Really? Uh... okay... let's start."

"Um, it's just that ever since you accepted Irvine's offer for a date, you seem really weird. Like, oh I don't know how to say it. I'm worried about you. If the date with him is making you angry or something, then you should probably just tell him."

Neither of them spoke for a while.

"It's not that, Rinoa..." Selphie thought of the encounter with Marie. "I think it's just his personality...lifestyle... thing. I dunno... I always thought my boyfriend was going to be this little innocent boy who liked the same things I did... but now I don't even want that...!" She looked away from Rinoa for a second and gasped.

Irvine rushed into the cafeteria and scoured the place, trying to find her. 

Rinoa's eyebrows shot up.

"Oh Rinoa, hide me! This is getting worse than I thought." Selphie groaned and slid deeper in her chair.

"What?!" Rinoa looked at Irvine, who apparently just found them, because he came over quickly, from right behind Selphie. Rinoa winced at this situation where she didn't really belong.

"Sephie! I'm so glad I found you. Listen, I'm really really sorry about what just happened... Sephie?"

Selphie's shoulders were hunched over, almost like she was crying. Rinoa and Irvine went into shock at the sight of Selphie crying... or what it looked to be Selphie crying.

"It's okay." She looked up without any tears in her eyes. Just embarrassment. "I guess it's possible for an ex girlfriend to track you down from another Garden... however desperate that may sound..." Selphie grinned slightly.

"Well, then I guess I'm pretty desperate too, staying here for you." He winked and patted her shoulder. Selphie blushed furiously. "Don't forget we're still on for tonight, right?"

"Y-yeah. Uh, I'll just wear something casual."

"Okay, no fancy restaurants for Sephie, got it!" He gently kissed her cheek and squeezed her hand. "I'll see ya." 

Irvine walked out smoothly from the cafeteria.

Selphie was still touching the place on her cheek where Irvine had kissed her.

Rinoa crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

_And they say Squall and I are the odd couple._

  


The moon shined through Selphie's window, but all the lights were on in her small dorm room. She had decided to just wear the miniskirt with a T-shirt, and a little lipstick. Selphie had never been one for much makeup.

She sat on her bed and waited for Irvine impatiently. It had really been one weird day. What with Rinoa talking to her about the weirdest ideas ever, and Marie, the little roach (oops!) and Irvine's little kiss.

Selphie blushed at the memory and smiled. It was so weird to have a boy fawning over her like that.

"Sephie?" A muffled voice came from behind the door.

Selphie jumped up and unlocked it, coming face to face once again with Irvine. He was still dressed in cowboy garb, except in his hand was a bouquet of yellow roses. Irvine took her hand and grinned.

"Flowers for the most beautiful girl in the world"

Selphie turned bright red and smiled to herself.

"Thank you, uh, I'll just take the flowers along, I guess."  
  
She took them and breathed in the scent.  


The two of them finally walked from the girl's dorms. Both in very different moods.

_Finally... my chance to tell her how I feel._

  


_  
_Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Feel free to review again, or for the first time. :) Sorry this chapter is a little shorter, but there is a reason why. Formatting chapters, of course. Hopefully the next one should be out by Sunday of this week.  
No, actually I'm not from Northern California...haven't even been there!!   
Thanks everyone, please review.

-Gem  
yp_6441@yahoo.com  


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